S&P downgrades U.S. credit rating (On a Friday At The End Of The Day No Less)

[Ares]

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Credit rating agency Standard & Poor's downgraded the credit rating of the United States, stripping the world's largest economy of its prized AAA status.

Last month, S&P warned it was placing the United States' sovereign rating on "CreditWatch with negative implications" as the debt ceiling debate devolved into partisan bickering.

To avoid a downgrade, S&P said the United States needed to not only raise the debt ceiling, but also develop a "credible" plan to tackle the nation's long-term debt.

"The downgrade reflects our opinion that the fiscal consolidation plan that Congress and the Administration recently agreed to falls short of what, in our view, would be necessary to stabilize the government's medium-term debt dynamics."

Rating agencies -- S&P, Moody's and Fitch -- analyze risk and give debt a "grade" that reflects the borrower's ability to pay the underlying loans.

The safest bets are stamped AAA. That's where U.S. debt has stood for years. Moody's first assigned the United States a AAA rating in 1917.

In the days after lawmakers managed to strike a debt-ceiling deal, the two other major rating agencies have both said the deficit reduction actions taken by Congress were a step in the right direction.

On Tuesday, Moody's said the United States will keep its sterling AAA credit rating, but lowered its outlook on U.S. debt to "negative."

Even if a downgrade were to occur, the United States will likely still be able to pay its bills for years to come and remains a good credit risk.

Investors have limited options for making safe investments, and Treasuries are effectively as liquid as cash. And other big countries have been downgraded and were still able to borrow at low rates.

At the same time, some experts warn that a downgrade could gum up the banking system and ripple out onto Main Street. Treasuries are used as collateral in many transactions between financial institutions and grease the skids of lending.

Consumers and investors could feel the impact of a downgrade. Interest rates on bonds could rise, and rates on mortgages and other types of loans along with them.

Government-backed agencies like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac may also be downgraded. It's also possible that some state and local governments could also face a downgrade.

And investment decisions would become complicated for large institutional investors that are required to hold highly-rated securities.

[Updated, 8:27 p.m. ET] The credit rating agency Standard & Poor's announced Friday that it has downgraded the U.S. credit rating to AA+ from its top rank of AAA.

[Original post, 7:16 p.m. ET] The Standard & Poor's rating agency served the Obama administration with notice Friday afternoon that it planned to downgrade the U.S. government's AAA credit rating, an administration official told CNN.

But S&P has yet to make its ruling public, and the source told CNN the agency is reconsidering after the administration challenged S&P's analysis of the government's finances.

The source, a senior official involved in the discussions, said the agency was off by "trillions" in its economic model and was now working to revise its analysis.

S&P did not return repeated calls for comment.

The official described the talks as a "moving target" and said "it's clear some people there still want to go forward" and downgrade U.S. debt.

Rumors swirled for most of the day Friday that S&P was preparing to make its move. But even several hours after the market close, official notice had yet to materialize.

Rating agencies - S&P, Moody's and Fitch - analyze risk and give debt a "grade" that reflects the borrower's ability to pay the underlying loans.

The safest bets are stamped AAA. That's where U.S. debt has stood for years. Moody's first assigned the United States a AAA rating in 1917.

http://money.cnn.com/2011/08/05/news/economy/downgrade_rumors/index.htm

Update: Joint Statement By The Fed, The FDIC, NCUA And OCC

Presenting the joint statement by The Fed, the FDIC, NCUA, OCC. In essence: the Fed tells S&P to go fornicate itself. And for your corresponding pleasure, below are the media contact of note: Federal Reserve Susan Stawick (202) 452-2955; FDIC David Barr (202) 898-6992; NCUA David Small (703) 518-6336; OCC Bryan Hubbard (202) 874-5307

Full release:

Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
National Credit Union Administration
Office of the Comptroller of the Currency

Agencies Issue Guidance on Federal Debt

Earlier today, Standard & Poor’s rating agency lowered the long-term rating of the U.S. government and federal agencies from AAA to AA+. With regard to this action, the federal banking agencies are providing the following guidance to banks, savings associations, credit unions, and bank and savings and loan holding companies (collectively, banking organizations)

For risk-based capital purposes, the risk weights for Treasury securities and other securities issued or guaranteed by the U.S. government, government agencies, and government-sponsored entities will not change. The treatment of Treasury securities and other securities issued or guaranteed by the U.S. government, government agencies, and government-sponsored entities under other federal banking agency regulations, including, for example, the Federal Reserve Board’s Regulation W, will also be unaffected.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/joint-statement-fed-fdic-ncua-occ

[mick silver]

just when i thought i had a enough food . it look like the down grade came any ways .

[Ares]

USSAAA - S&P Reconsiders Downgrade After White House Challenge.

McGraw-Hill: meet Chicago-style negotiations. And there, in one sentence, is all that is broken with this country. The reason for the beyond ridiculous horse trade, according to CNN: S&P analysis of U.S. revenue, deficit picture was questioned. Presumably S&P ignored to add the $10 quintillion dollars that were saved by America not declaring war on Tatooine and its most infamous Hutt resident: Larry Summers. Indeed, again according to CNN, S&P acknowledged some errors in its analysis. Isn't it amazing what being threatened with having your NRSRO license can do for motivation to double check your work, eh you pathetic sellouts? Who would have thought that last week's farce debt ceiling would continue and develop into a national pastime. Below, for the sake of S&P's non-existent conscience and incompetence, are their own guidelines for what constitutes an AAA-rated credit. Readers can decide if the US is one. In other news, in USSAAA, government downgrade rating agency.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/cnn-sp-reconsiders-downgrade-after-white-house-challenge

[Ares]

Full Text of S&P downgrade:

United States of America Long-Term Rating Lowered To 'AA+' On Political Risks And Rising Debt Burden; Outlook Negative

We have lowered our long-term sovereign credit rating on the United States of America to 'AA+' from 'AAA' and affirmed the 'A-1+' short-term rating.

We have also removed both the short- and long-term ratings from CreditWatch negative.

The downgrade reflects our opinion that the fiscal consolidation plan that Congress and the Administration recently agreed to falls short of what, in our view, would be necessary to stabilize the government's medium-term debt dynamics.

More broadly, the downgrade reflects our view that the effectiveness, stability, and predictability of American policymaking and political institutions have weakened at a time of ongoing fiscal and economic challenges to a degree more than we envisioned when we assigned a negative outlook to the rating on April 18, 2011.

Since then, we have changed our view of the difficulties in bridging the gulf between the political parties over fiscal policy, which makes us pessimistic about the capacity of Congress and the Administration to be able to leverage their agreement this week into a broader fiscal consolidation plan that stabilizes the government's debt dynamics any time soon.

The outlook on the long-term rating is negative. We could lower the long-term rating to 'AA' within the next two years if we see that less reduction in spending than agreed to, higher interest rates, or new fiscal pressures during the period result in a higher general government debt trajectory than we currently assume in our base case.

Rating Action

On Aug. 5, 2011, Standard & Poor's Ratings Services lowered its long-term sovereign credit rating on the United States of America to 'AA+' from 'AAA'. The outlook on the long-term rating is negative. At the same time, Standard & Poor's affirmed its 'A-1+' short-term rating on the U.S. In addition, Standard & Poor's removed both ratings from CreditWatch, where they were placed on July 14, 2011, with negative implications.

The transfer and convertibility (T&C) assessment of the U.S.--our assessment of the likelihood of official interference in the ability of U.S.-based public- and private-sector issuers to secure foreign exchange for debt service--remains 'AAA'.

Rationale

We lowered our long-term rating on the U.S. because we believe that the prolonged controversy over raising the statutory debt ceiling and the related fiscal policy debate indicate that further near-term progress containing the growth in public spending, especially on entitlements, or on reaching an agreement on raising revenues is less likely than we previously assumed and will remain a contentious and fitful process. We also believe that the fiscal consolidation plan that Congress and the Administration agreed to this week falls short of the amount that we believe is necessary to stabilize the general government debt burden by the middle of the decade.

Our lowering of the rating was prompted by our view on the rising public debt burden and our perception of greater policymaking uncertainty, consistent with our criteria (see "Sovereign Government Rating Methodology and Assumptions," June 30, 2011, especially Paragraphs 36-41). Nevertheless, we view the U.S. federal government's other economic, external, and monetary credit attributes, which form the basis for the sovereign rating, as broadly unchanged.

We have taken the ratings off CreditWatch because the Aug. 2 passage of the Budget Control Act Amendment of 2011 has removed any perceived immediate threat of payment default posed by delays to raising the government's debt ceiling. In addition, we believe that the act provides sufficient clarity to allow us to evaluate the likely course of U.S. fiscal policy for the next few years.

The political brinksmanship of recent months highlights what we see as America's governance and policymaking becoming less stable, less effective, and less predictable than what we previously believed. The statutory debt ceiling and the threat of default have become political bargaining chips in the debate over fiscal policy. Despite this year's wide-ranging debate, in our view, the differences between political parties have proven to be extraordinarily difficult to bridge, and, as we see it, the resulting agreement fell well short of the comprehensive fiscal consolidation program that some proponents had envisaged until quite recently. Republicans and Democrats have only been able to agree to relatively modest savings on discretionary spending while delegating to the Select Committee decisions on more comprehensive measures. It appears that for now, new revenues have dropped down on the menu of policy options. In addition, the plan envisions only minor policy changes on Medicare and little change in other entitlements, the containment of which we and most other independent observers regard as key to long-term fiscal sustainability.

Our opinion is that elected officials remain wary of tackling the structural issues required to effectively address the rising U.S. public debt burden in a manner consistent with a 'AAA' rating and with 'AAA' rated sovereign peers (see Sovereign Government Rating Methodology and Assumptions," June 30, 2011, especially Paragraphs 36-41). In our view, the difficulty in framing a consensus on fiscal policy weakens the government's ability to manage public finances and diverts attention from the debate over how to achieve more balanced and dynamic economic growth in an era of fiscal stringency and private-sector deleveraging (ibid). A new political consensus might (or might not) emerge after the 2012 elections, but we believe that by then, the government debt burden will likely be higher, the needed medium-term fiscal adjustment potentially greater, and the inflection point on the U.S. population's demographics and other age-related spending drivers closer at hand (see "Global Aging 2011: In The U.S., Going Gray Will Likely Cost Even More Green, Now," June 21, 2011).

Standard & Poor's takes no position on the mix of spending and revenue measures that Congress and the Administration might conclude is appropriate for putting the U.S.'s finances on a sustainable footing.

The act calls for as much as $2.4 trillion of reductions in expenditure growth over the 10 years through 2021. These cuts will be implemented in two steps: the $917 billion agreed to initially, followed by an additional $1.5 trillion that the newly formed Congressional Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction is supposed to recommend by November 2011. The act contains no measures to raise taxes or otherwise enhance revenues, though the committee could recommend them.

The act further provides that if Congress does not enact the committee's recommendations, cuts of $1.2 trillion will be implemented over the same time period. The reductions would mainly affect outlays for civilian discretionary spending, defense, and Medicare. We understand that this fall-back mechanism is designed to encourage Congress to embrace a more balanced mix of expenditure savings, as the committee might recommend.

We note that in a letter to Congress on Aug. 1, 2011, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimated total budgetary savings under the act to be at least $2.1 trillion over the next 10 years relative to its baseline assumptions. In updating our own fiscal projections, with certain modifications outlined below, we have relied on the CBO's latest "Alternate Fiscal Scenario" of June 2011, updated to include the CBO assumptions contained in its Aug. 1 letter to Congress. In general, the CBO's "Alternate Fiscal Scenario" assumes a continuation of recent Congressional action overriding existing law.

We view the act's measures as a step toward fiscal consolidation. However, this is within the framework of a legislative mechanism that leaves open the details of what is finally agreed to until the end of 2011, and Congress and the Administration could modify any agreement in the future. Even assuming that at least $2.1 trillion of the spending reductions the act envisages are implemented, we maintain our view that the U.S. net general government debt burden (all levels of government combined, excluding liquid financial assets) will likely continue to grow. Under our revised base case fiscal scenario--which we consider to be consistent with a 'AA+' long-term rating and a negative outlook--we now project that net general government debt would rise from an estimated 74% of GDP by the end of 2011 to 79% in 2015 and 85% by 2021. Even the projected 2015 ratio of sovereign indebtedness is high in relation to those of peer credits and, as noted, would continue to rise under the act's revised policy settings.

Compared with previous projections, our revised base case scenario now assumes that the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts, due to expire by the end of 2012, remain in place. We have changed our assumption on this because the majority of Republicans in Congress continue to resist any measure that would raise revenues, a position we believe Congress reinforced by passing the act. Key macroeconomic assumptions in the base case scenario include trend real GDP growth of 3% and consumer price inflation near 2% annually over the decade.

Our revised upside scenario--which, other things being equal, we view as consistent with the outlook on the 'AA+' long-term rating being revised to stable--retains these same macroeconomic assumptions. In addition, it incorporates $950 billion of new revenues on the assumption that the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts for high earners lapse from 2013 onwards, as the Administration is advocating. In this scenario, we project that the net general government debt would rise from an estimated 74% of GDP by the end of 2011 to 77% in 2015 and to 78% by 2021.

Our revised downside scenario--which, other things being equal, we view as being consistent with a possible further downgrade to a 'AA' long-term rating--features less-favorable macroeconomic assumptions, as outlined below and also assumes that the second round of spending cuts (at least $1.2 trillion) that the act calls for does not occur. This scenario also assumes somewhat higher nominal interest rates for U.S. Treasuries. We still believe that the role of the U.S. dollar as the key reserve currency confers a government funding advantage, one that could change only slowly over time, and that Fed policy might lean toward continued loose monetary policy at a time of fiscal tightening. Nonetheless, it is possible that interest rates could rise if investors re-price relative risks. As a result, our alternate scenario factors in a 50 basis point (bp)-75 bp rise in 10-year bond yields relative to the base and upside cases from 2013 onwards. In this scenario, we project the net public debt burden would rise from 74% of GDP in 2011 to 90% in 2015 and to 101% by 2021.

Our revised scenarios also take into account the significant negative revisions to historical GDP data that the Bureau of Economic Analysis announced on July 29. From our perspective, the effect of these revisions underscores two related points when evaluating the likely debt trajectory of the U.S. government. First, the revisions show that the recent recession was deeper than previously assumed, so the GDP this year is lower than previously thought in both nominal and real terms. Consequently, the debt burden is slightly higher. Second, the revised data highlight the sub-par path of the current economic recovery when compared with rebounds following previous post-war recessions. We believe the sluggish pace of the current economic recovery could be consistent with the experiences of countries that have had financial crises in which the slow process of debt deleveraging in the private sector leads to a persistent drag on demand. As a result, our downside case scenario assumes relatively modest real trend GDP growth of 2.5% and inflation of near 1.5% annually going forward.

When comparing the U.S. to sovereigns with 'AAA' long-term ratings that we view as relevant peers--Canada, France, Germany, and the U.K.--we also observe, based on our base case scenarios for each, that the trajectory of the U.S.'s net public debt is diverging from the others. Including the U.S., we estimate that these five sovereigns will have net general government debt to GDP ratios this year ranging from 34% (Canada) to 80% (the U.K.), with the U.S. debt burden at 74%. By 2015, we project that their net public debt to GDP ratios will range between 30% (lowest, Canada) and 83% (highest, France), with the U.S. debt burden at 79%. However, in contrast with the U.S., we project that the net public debt burdens of these other sovereigns will begin to decline, either before or by 2015.

Standard & Poor's transfer T&C assessment of the U.S. remains 'AAA'. Our T&C assessment reflects our view of the likelihood of the sovereign restricting other public and private issuers' access to foreign exchange needed to meet debt service. Although in our view the credit standing of the U.S. government has deteriorated modestly, we see little indication that official interference of this kind is entering onto the policy agenda of either Congress or the Administration. Consequently, we continue to view this risk as being highly remote.

Outlook

The outlook on the long-term rating is negative. As our downside alternate fiscal scenario illustrates, a higher public debt trajectory than we currently
assume could lead us to lower the long-term rating again. On the other hand, as our upside scenario highlights, if the recommendations of the Congressional Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction--independently or coupled with other initiatives, such as the lapsing of the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts for high earners--lead to fiscal consolidation measures beyond the minimum mandated, and we believe they are likely to slow the deterioration of the government's debt dynamics, the long-term rating could stabilize at 'AA+'.

On Monday, we will issue separate releases concerning affected ratings in the funds, government-related entities, financial institutions, insurance, public finance, and structured finance sectors.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/sp-downgrades-us-aa-outlook-negative-full-text

[osoab]

Holy Shit, I thought is was all bs and pandering.

This is big shit.

Money markets and bond funds will have to have laws and prospectuses changed to keep holding US debt.

Fire sale on commods in the short term?

The bankers own S&P, what the fuck gives?

[midnight rambler]

The bankers own S&P, what the fuck gives?

It's all part of their plan to take out what's left of the US of A (which isn't much after their wholesale looting of same), to completely cripple this country where it cannot possibly come back (to blend it into the global government as a shadow of its former self) - IMO.

[osoab]

http://video.foxbusiness.com/v/4651704/geithner-no-risk-us-will-lose-aaa-credit-rating/

clip of Timmay saying no risk of losing AAA credit rating.
(There has to be a friggin way to allow embedding of other vids!)

The World's Reserve Currency just got downgraded.

Done on a Friday and after market close. Is this done now to give those in the know time to react?

[palani]

Beware of smoke and mirrors.

S&P is a U.S. corporation. As such it is controlled by the executive branch of government (as are all corporations). How likely does anyone believe it is that such a corporation is going to act against the best interests of its creator? Should they not act the way their creator intends their creator will shut 'em down in a heartbeat.

If there is a lower credit rating it is because the present government deems it expedient.

[osoab]

It's all part of their plan to take out what's left of the US of A (which isn't much after their wholesale looting of same), to completely cripple this country where it cannot possibly come back (to blend it into the global government as a shadow of its former self) - IMO.


Yeah but what is the current play? I am running too many unkind scenarios through my noggin.

Only if the dudes from the local Army Reserve hadn't shown up at work in a military truck with mulitbox trailer to get some steel. (don't know which kind) Worked there 11 years and never seen that before.

[Dogman]

Yeah but what is the current play? I am running too many unkind scenarios through my noggin.

Only if the dudes from the local Army Reserve hadn't shown up at work in a military truck with mulitbox trailer to get some steel. (don't know which kind) Worked there 11 years and never seen that before.

Road block barriers?

[osoab]

Road block barriers?

Nah, it just a few pieces of angle iron that could have easily fit in the back of a pickup, maybe 35 lbs tops in weight.

But once again, I have never seen them drive a truck in to get anything. We may make deliveries from time to time. I really don't have much interaction on that side of the business, but it raised my eyebrows a bit.

[Dogman]

Some kind of frames probably .

[osoab]

Some kind of frames probably .

Crap, I should have drove by the place this afternoon. Who knows, it could be busy work for summer detail or one of the guys using the truck to get his own stuff. I don't believe the latter to be true though. I have never answered a phone order from them either in 5 years or so.

[Ares]

Bump for the update

[Shami-Amourae]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghFp1aTjAlo

[Dogman]

Yeah but what is the current play? I am running too many unkind scenarios through my noggin.

Only if the dudes from the local Army Reserve hadn't shown up at work in a military truck with mulitbox trailer to get some steel. (don't know which kind) Worked there 11 years and never seen that before.

Here is another option.


http://defense-update.com/images/strykercage.jpg

[solid]

Don't worry folks! Geithner to the rescue!

He speaks this evening....(sell everything, right now;D )


Washington (CNN) -- Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner will take part in a conference call Sunday evening with representatives of the other G7 nations to discuss the downgraded U.S. credit rating, a G7 official told CNN.
The talks expected to occur before Asian markets open for Monday trading follow Friday's downgrade of the U.S. credit rating to AA+ from the top rank of AAA. It was the first time in history the nation was rated below AAA.

http://www.cnn.com/2011/BUSINESS/08/07/global.economy/index.html?hpt=hp_t1

[Dogman]

Don't worry folks! Geithner to the rescue!

He speaks this evening....(sell everything, right now;D )


Washington (CNN) -- Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner will take part in a conference call Sunday evening with representatives of the other G7 nations to discuss the downgraded U.S. credit rating, a G7 official told CNN.
The talks expected to occur before Asian markets open for Monday trading follow Friday's downgrade of the U.S. credit rating to AA+ from the top rank of AAA. It was the first time in history the nation was rated below AAA.

http://www.cnn.com/2011/BUSINESS/08/07/global.economy/index.html?hpt=hp_t1

That shill is only trying to keep things from doing this.

http://mychinaconnection.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/money-down-the-drain.jpg

[mick silver]

S&P downgrades U.S ... just wait till every country is downgraded . if they kick the usa just watch when they kick every other country ....

[AndreaGail]

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0811/60803.html

S&P warns of a second downgrade


By JOSH BOAK | 8/6/11 2:41 PM EDT

One day after lowering the nation’s platinum triple-A credit rating, Standard & Poor’s analysts warned Saturday that the U.S. government could face a second downgrade if the economy continues to struggle and the government fails to make the cuts outlined in the debt ceiling agreement.

[Cebu_4_2]

I read 'within 2 years'


http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0811/60803.html

S&P warns of a second downgrade


By JOSH BOAK | 8/6/11 2:41 PM EDT

One day after lowering the nation’s platinum triple-A credit rating, Standard & Poor’s analysts warned Saturday that the U.S. government could face a second downgrade if the economy continues to struggle and the government fails to make the cuts outlined in the debt ceiling agreement.

[PatColo]

don't know how to embed this "MRC TV" source,

Saturday, 06 August 2011 20:15 Former Obama Economic Adviser on Downgrade: We're 'Pretty Darn F--ked' (http://www.collapsenet.com/free-resources/must-see-videos/item/1980-former-obama-economic-adviser-on-downgrade-were-pretty-darn-f-ked)

[Hatha Sunahara]

Do people who buy US Treasury bonds ever look at the S&P rating? Treasury bonds are in a class by themselves, and all other debt is rated relative to US Treasury bonds. They have been considered 'risk free' for half a century or longer. As long as Bernanke has his monopoly for conjuring up money and a printing press, all the investors will get their money back, minus its purchasing power.

Is that why gold is up $35 in the last two hours, and silver is up over $1?

Boy, I can't wait until tomorrow. Pretty soon we'll start seeing swings of $100 a day or more in POG--just like Jim Sinclair said would happen. Isn't it great to live in such exciting times?


Hatha

[osoab]

don't know how to embed this "MRC TV" source,

Saturday, 06 August 2011 20:15 Former Obama Economic Adviser on Downgrade: We're 'Pretty Darn F--ked' (http://www.collapsenet.com/free-resources/must-see-videos/item/1980-former-obama-economic-adviser-on-downgrade-were-pretty-darn-f-ked)


That is the dumb bitch, from UC Berkley that was on Obummers economic team.

She is not a bright one for being a college professor.

Here is the wiki of the one who hasn't skipped many meals.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christina_Romer

[mick silver]

are the markets up are down this morning

[Dogman]

are the markets up are down this morning They open in about 1 1/2 hrs from now here.

[mick silver]

over sea markets ....

[Dogman]

over sea markets ....

:15 am : S&P futures vs fair value: -22.70. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: -48.30. An unprecedented downgrade of U.S. debt has prompted a precipitous drop in stock futures, such that the cash market is expected to open with a loss of at least 2%. The news has also driven aggressive selling abroad, where many of the major bourses of Europe are down in excess of 1% and most of Asia's averages fell more than 2%. The global sell-off has spurred strong buying in precious metals. In turn, gold prices are up more than 3% to a new record high above $1700 per ounce, while silver is up about 4% to $39.74 per ounce. Silver is still shy of the multi-month high above $40 per ounce that it set last week, though. Want for safety has sent traders into Treasuries, too, despite the US debt downgrade. The action has taken the yield on the 2-year Note to a new record low closer to 0.24% and the yield on the benchmark 10-year Note back below 2.50%. The dollar has maintained a buying bid this morning; after easing off of its morning high, the greenback is clinging to a 0.2% gain against a collection of competing currencies. Outside of the downgrade headline, there isn't much news for traders to digest -- the economic calendar is empty and the pace of quarterly earnings announcements has begun to slow.

06:51 am : [B]S&P futures vs fair value: -27.90. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: -60.00.

06:51 am : Nikkei...9097.56...-202.30...-2.20%. Hang Seng...20490.57...-455.60...-2.20%.


http://finance.yahoo.com/marketupdate/overview

[mick silver]

not looking good dogman

[Dogman]

not looking good dogman

Well it could be worse!

http://www.comperini.com/esk/Pictures/SMALLpICS/Earth%20Shattering%20Kaboom%201.jpg

[mick silver]

The official newspaper of China's ruling Communist Party on Monday lambasted the U.S. for its credit rating downgrade and called for better coordination between the West and developing nations on economic policy. "What happened in Washington is not only an economic crisis, but a political crisis," the paper said

[Dogman]

The official newspaper of China's ruling Communist Party on Monday lambasted the U.S. for its credit rating downgrade and called for better coordination between the West and developing nations on economic policy. "What happened in Washington is not only an economic crisis, but a political crisis," the paper said For once I do agree with the china man! That newspaper pretty much sets the group mind of that nation.